West Marine named to Forbes trustworthy list

West Marine, the largest boating supplies and accessories retailer, announced it was named by Forbes magazine as one of Americas 100 Most Trustworthy Companies for the second straight year.

According to Forbes reporter Jacquelyn Smith, the most transparent and trustworthy businesses that trade on American exchanges were selected by partnering with GMI Ratings, a global research firm that examines environmental, social and accounting risks affecting public companies. More than 60 governance and accounting measures were examined. West Marine was featured in the small-cap sector, based on accounting transparency, solid management practices and appropriate board supervision.

To qualify for Americas 100 Most Trustworthy Companies, corporations had to have a market cap of $250 million or more. GMI Ratings examined more than 8,000 publicly traded companies and assigned an accounting and governance risk score, based on a proprietary model. To be considered for the list, companies must have maintained AGR ratings of conservative or average for the last four quarters and have a positive forecast for equity returns.

GMI Ratings found that Americas 100 Most Trustworthy Companies usually outperformed comparable corporations over the long term.

West Marine has nearly 300 company-operated stores in 38 states, Puerto Rico and Canada and five franchised stores in Turkey.